Evaluate techniques used to study the brain in relation to

human behavior.
Introduction
Historically, psychologists have used a variety of techniques to study the brain in behavior.
These include case studies, animal experiments, and brain imaging techniques.

Case studies
One technique is case studies of patients with brain damage. These provide researchers
with a situation they could never ethically reproduce in a laboratory, and are often carried
out longitudinally in order to observe short-term and long-term effects of damage.

One example of this is Milner’s (1968) study on HM (Henry Molaison, a young man who
became amnesic in 1953 following a bilateral removal in the hippocampal zone) to study
the biological reasons for anterograde amnesia (the inability to form new long-term
memories). To do so, Milner utilized method triangulation - research strategies she used
include IQ testing, direct observation of his behavior, interviews with him and his family
members, and cognitive testing (which consisted of memory recall tests and learning
tasks such as reverse mirror drawing). She found that HM could not acquire new episodic
knowledge (memory for events) or new semantic knowledge (general knowledge about
the world) - this suggests that the brain structures that were removed from his brain are
important for long-term explicit memory. However, procedural memories (memories in the
form of motor skills) were well maintained - for example, he knew how to mow a lawn. He
also showed improvements on the performance of new skills such as reverse mirror-
drawing, in which he had to acquire new hand-eye coordination). From this, Milner
concluded that the memory systems in the brain constitute a highly specialized and
complex system and that the hippocampus plays a critical role in converting memories of
experiences from short-term memory to long-term memory - however, it was found that
short-term memory is not stored in the hippocampus as HM was able to retain information
for a while if he rehearsed it. Since HM was able to retain some memories for events that
happened long before his surgery, it indicates that the medial temporal region is not the
site of permanent storage but rather plays a role in the organization and permanent
storage of memories elsewhere in the brain. Last but not least, it was concluded that
implicit memory contains several stores (e.g. procedural memory, emotional memory and
skills and habits) - each of these areas is related to different brain areas.

A case study like this has various strengths and limitations. On one hand, it is holistic (i.e.
it looks at a range of effects of the damage, rather than a single behavior), provides
important information that can be used to study the effects of brain damage over time,
and can spark new research. On the other hand, findings are subjective (as information
about the individual’s IQ, problem solving skills, memory, and interpersonal skills is often
reliant on the memories of family members) and not generalizable (as case studies are of
single indivuals), no cause and effect relationship can be determined (as researchers do
not manipulate an independent variable), and it is difficult to verify information about the
patient before the accident took place (which affects the accuracy and validity of the
findings).

In spite of these methodological limitations of a single case study, psychologists agree

that they provide important information that can be used to study the effects of brain
damage over time, as well as spark new research.
Animal experiments
Psychologists may also perform experiments with animals to investigate the hypothesized
relationship between damage to a specific area of the brain and behavior. Unlike in human
experimentation, animal experimentation is often invasive – that is, it involves injecting
drugs, removing part of the brain or causing other permanent harm to the animal with the
goal of establishing a cause and effect relationship.

One example of this is Lashley’s study to find out which part of the cortex was
responsible for learning. To do so, he trained a rat to run through a maze without errors in
search of food. After learning occurred, he would remove an area from the cortex, then
would place the rat back at the start and register the change in behavior. He removed
varying portions of the cortex in different rats, ranging from 10% to 50%. From this study,
he concluded that memory was distributed across the cortex rather than localized, a
conclusion supported by two principles: the principle of mass action (i.e. performance
deterioration depends on the percentage of cortex destroyed, not its location) and the
principle of equipotentiality (i.e. that one part of the cortex has the ability to take over the
functions of other parts).

While animal studies are beneficial for understanding how damage to a specific area of
the brain causes behavioral changes, there are both ethical and methodical issues to this.
On the ethical side, the use of invasive techniques raise serious ethical concerns and
psychologists have to conform to codes of conduct for the use of non-human
animals. This means that psychologists who engage in research with animals need to
apply to an ethical committee for permission to carry out their research. If the potential
harm to the animal cannot be determined, permission will only be granted if the research
is considered to add to current knowledge and there are no alternatives. On the
methodical side, findings may not be generalizable to humans as animal brains are
biologically different from human brains.

In light of this, it is important to consider whether or not the benefits of conducting an

animal experiment outweigh the considerable ethical and methodical concerns.

Brain imaging techniques

Modern technology is now extensively used in psychology because it provides an
opportunity to study not only brain structures but also the active brain while avoiding
many of the ethical concerns of animal experimentation. This allows researchers to see
localization of function – that is, the functions of specific parts of the brain and how they
relate to behaviour.

One example of this is Fisher’s (2005) study to investigate the neural mechanisms that are
associated with attraction and romantic love in humans. To do so, she had participants
complete the passionate love scale (PLS) questionnaire and conducted semi-structured
interviews with participants to establish the duration, intensity and range of his/her love,
then used fMRI scanning to see which neurons and neural pathways associated with
goal-directed behaviours were involved. In the fMRI scanner, each participant viewed a
photo of their loved one for 30 seconds (positive stimulus) and do a countback task
(distraction, which consisted of mentally counting down from a large number by 7) for 40
seconds. This process would be repeated for a photo of an emotionally neutral
acquaintance (neutral stimulus). The entire procedure was repeated 6 times. From this
study, Fisher concluded that the ventral tegmental area and caudate nucleus were active
in all participants, the mid-insular cortex, right anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, and
in all participants, the mid-insular cortex, right anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, and
right posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex were active in participants in longer-term
romantic relationships. Participants involved in longer-term relationships also showed
increased activity in the ventral pallidum (which is associated with attachment behaviors).

Using fMRI scanning like this has its strengths and limitations. On one hand, it has
advantages over other types of scanning, particularly PET scanning - fMRI scanning is
non-invasive (unlike PET scanning) as there is no radioactive isotope necessary, and
scans have a higher resolution than PET scans and are easier to carry out. Last but not
least, rather than a static image, the fMRI produces a film that demonstrates change in
the brain over the period of the scan. On the other hand, certain precautions must be
taken to protect the safety of the participant: since the technology works with a powerful
magnet, it is important that objects that contain iron be removed, and in rare cases, a
participant may have to be removed from a sample because of a metal implant (e.g.
pacemakers, cochlear implants). Neuroimaging also lacks ecological validity - the scanner
is not a natural environment for cognition. Because of this, participants may also
experience anxiety due to noise in the tunnel and the claustrophobic nature of the
machine, which may result in artifacts as some brain activity may be related to anxiety or
reaction to the machine rather than the behavior that is being studied. Last but not least,
fMRI scans may not be able to show a clear cause-and-effect relationship as brain areas
activate for various reasons - much of the activity of the brain is spontaneous and is not a
reaction to stimuli, therefore it is difficult to know exactly which areas of the brain are
active in a behavior.

In spite of these limitations, there is agreement among researchers that neuroimaging has
the potential to help us to better understand the role of the brain in human behavior

Conclusion
As can be seen above, every technique has its own strengths and limitations. When
deciding to conduct an experiment, it is important to consider these and choose a
technique accordingly.